The Salamon family of North Bergen had quite a day to remember this past June 26, and they want to share it with their friends and neighbors in North Hudson County for the sake of joy and laughter. Debby Salamon, secretary for the Bureau of Housing Inspection in North Bergen, tells us that a flag pole was dedicated by their uncle, Ensign Joe Schneider of Guttenberg, who served in the U.S. Navy in the Pacific-Asian Theater in World War II. Uncle Joe enlisted on Dec. 19, 1942, was released to inactive duty in August, 1946, and was honorably discharged in May, 1955. He served on the USS Elkhart and the USS Karin. The Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2342 in Fort Lee is where the flag pole was dedicated, and the post is in memory of Commander Jim Viola’s wife, Doris. Ensign Schneider is the “Adjutant” of the post.

During the event, Debby’s husband Richard Salamon, Jr. and sons Richard III and Shawn began to roast her for turning “Sensational 60” on the 4th of July. Afterward, they all celebrated their son Shawn’s graduation from the McAllister Institute of Funeral Service of New York City in 2010. He is also a graduate of Quinnipiac University in Connecticut in 2004, and a graduate of North Bergen High School in 2000. He is currently employed as an Advanced Planning Funeral Director at Mack-Leber Funeral Home in Hackensack.

But then, Shawn surprised everyone as he got on his knees, and asked his girlfriend, who was also an attendee at the festivities, to marry him, and she said “Yes!”

The name of this lovely lady is Toni Marie Costa. She is the daughter of Arthur and Helen Costa of Wantagh, N.Y. Miss Costa is a 2000 graduate of General Douglas MacArthur High School on Long Island. After high school, she obtained her LPN. She is currently studying to become a registered nurse, and is employed as a pediatric nurse in Fairlawn. An autumn 2012 wedding is being planned.

So there you have it, a day of fun and joyful surprise for all to share and spread around, especially within the Salamon family. By the way, did anyone notice that the patriarch of the Salamon family, Richard, Jr., looks like a throw-back to the forest lumberjack days of the wild old United States Northern Woods/Pacific Northwest Woods in the 1800s? He could easily be nicknamed “Grizzly Adams” with that mustache and beard.

To the entire Salamon family and bride-to-be Toni Marie Costa… All The Best!

West New York Mayor Dr. Felix Roque tells us that Congressman Albio Sires, also a resident of West New York and also a former mayor, is a long-time friend, and happens to be a patient of his private medical practice. Surely, he is in good hands; and hands that heal. Good News!

Xantiana Abio of Weehawken, Gabriel M. Gomez of Guttenberg, and Samantha P. Schlemn of Secaucus have all recently achieved bachelor’s degrees from Quinnipiac University in Connecticut. Ditto, Clarisa Bido of Union City, who achieved a master’s degree from Drew University in Madison, New Jersey. Leaders of Tomorrow, make us proud!

Interesting news comes from former Hudson County Freeholder Neil Carroll of Bayonne. During his time as a freeholder during the late 1990s, the Bayonne Historical Society asked him to restore and refurbish a statue called “The Hiker,” which was a soldier from the Spanish-American War. Freeholder Carroll raised $10,000 to get the job done. Mr. Carroll, a professional fundraiser of high regard, is the father-in-law of Bayonne Mayor Mark Smith, who is also the chairman of the Hudson County Democratic Party, and is also the personage of the newly-touted name, The SMITHSONIANS, as a call for a robust Democratic party in the county. By the way, The Hiker statue can be seen at Bayonne Park, driving north along John F. Kennedy Boulevard, where the park splits in half along the boulevard. And away we go!

UNION NEWS. Recently, educational unionism lost a giant of a man, namely West New Yorker Joseph A. Mantineo, president of the Hudson County Area Vocational-Technical Education Association/NJEA. His reign spanned more than 30-years. I nicknamed him The Mountain Man because his family name in English means “from the mountains.”

I served for six years on his executive board, winning county-wide elections, and supported his presidency from its beginnings, but unionism has to be dealt with by people with certain convictions, and my friend Joe had these convictions. As a columnist, I appreciated his diligence to end union/administrative wars at the lowest levels of negotiations, so that bush-fires didn’t end up as wild fires. However, human nature, such as it is, turned many such fires into bonfires, and that is where the negativity always sets in, and unfortunately disagreeably so!

In any event, I truly appreciated Joe’s wife Barbara, who is a former West New York Board of Education member, Joe’s daughter Maureen Mantineo, who is a Hudson County Superior Court Judge residing in Guttenberg, and Joe’s brother-in-law, Mayor Gerald Drasheff of Guttenberg, for keeping me informed of Joe’s medical condition, and of course hearing from my old friend Joe himself, before his passing. Moreover, I am specifically happy now that Joe doesn’t have to listen to peek-aboo boogy-man political mongers any more administratively, and nor from the place and area that spawned them. So now go Joe, head for the light, the light of the opening-door where Saint Peter is waiting for you to check-in, and as where Saint Dismas also found his eternal rest. You are in paradise!

And so it goes … until next time …see you around town …MATT.Readers who would like to contribute to this column can do so by mailing your news items along with your photographs to Matthew Amato, columnist, c/o The Hudson Reporter, 1400 Washington St., Hoboken, NJ 07030.